a soldier who couldn’t help but break down when he saw all the bodies of his comrades and commanding officers scattered around pilkhana

From how it started, what went on to the end

The morning of 25th February 2009 was shattered with gunshots and shells being thrown left and right between collision of the army with the BDR.

Panic spread across the residential area around Bangladesh Rifles Head quarter at Philkhana Dhaka with one civilian being critically injured in the cross fire . Nearby area has now been cordoned off by the BDR guards, and no thoroughfare traffic is being allowed.

Witness reports state that heavy gunfire including that of machine and mortars shells could be heard from around the area . Unconfirmed report cited some sort of rebellion within due to discontent with pay scale, dissatisfaction about being headed by the army and other benefits.

Heavy security presence has also been reported in the vicinity .

Update: Helicopters are busy with surveillance around the city. Journalists are seen lying about the city in hiding, grabbing footage at every point. Three more injuries have been reported.

Motors are also being used. The BDR remaining will be hanged if there is a possibility of court marshall. The BDR have surrounded the Director General’s office due to negation of demands.

Dhaka, Feb 25 (bdnews24.com) – The son of the BDR’s Dhaka sector commander Mujibul Huq sent a ‘Help’ sms from the gunbattle-wrecked BDR headquarters.

“Our house” has been set on fire and BDR members are positioned outside, the family of the sector commander told bdnews24.com.

Meanwhile, anxious parents and guardians were thronging the emergency department of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital to inquire about their near ones who had gone out in the morning but did not come back yet.

Ruhul Amin, a private bank employee, said since his son did not come back from his private tuition, he had come to the hospital to look for him.

Dhaka, Feb 25 (bdnews24.com)—At least two senior officers and three civilians were confirmed dead in an armed rebellion by Bangladesh Rifles personnel on Wednesday, police and hospital officials said.

Col Mujibul Huq, who commanded the Dhaka Sector and headed the emergency government’s Operation Daal-Bhat, was killed at the early stage of the mutiny.

The body of Lt Col Enayet, commander of 36 Battalion, was found alongside Huq’s. Both were dumped in a drain behind the BDR compound, Kamrangirchar police SI Ataur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

The head of the border security force—major general Shakil Ahmed—was widely believed throughout the day to be among the dead.

At least three civilians were confirmed dead and over 25 were wounded as heavy gunfire erupted in and around Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters in the morning.

BDR personnel fired shots out of the compound at civilians on at least two occasions in the morning, witnesses and correspondents said.

A bullet-hit rickshaw puller brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital died on arrival there. He was identified as Amjad Ali, 52, who received a bullet in the head.

Khondoker Md Tariq Aziz, 20, was shot near Zigatola and died at the DMCH.Fourteen-year-old Mohammad Hridoy, a street vendor, was the third civilian confirmed dead. He died on way to the DMCH.

Of the injured, 15 lay at DMCH and 10 at Bangladesh Medical College Hospital in Dhanmondi, hospital officials said.

SI Ataur said the bodies of both colonels were sent to the CMH.

Reports of casualties also came from within the BDR complex, as calls were received by family members on the outside.

School teacher Rajab Ali told bdnews24.com that his brother Md Abul Kashem, a deputy assistant director of BDR, was killed by rifle fire inside the complex.

“My brother’s wife told me his body was lying where he fell in front of Darbar Hall,” said Ali.

“She said more civilian bodies could be seen lying inside the battle-wrecked BDR complex,” he said.

The first shots had reportedly been fired at the Hall Wednesday morning.

Ali quoted Kashem’s wife, whom he would not name, as saying her husband had been present at the Rifles Week programme at Darbar Hall in the morning.

“He was shot as he was escaping the gunfire which erupted in the hall, his wife told me”, said Ali.

“My brother was living in a flat near Durbar Hall,” said Ali.

“My sister-in-law called me by mobile around 2.30pm,” he said.

The BDR rebels agreed to surrender their arms after a two-hour meeting with the prime minister at her official residence Jamuna, state minister for local government Jahangir Kabir Nanak told reporters at a briefing in the evening.

He said that the needs and aspirations of the paramilitary border guards had always been stopped by their commanding officers from the army and were never conveyed to the highest authorities.

The BDR personnel now expressed their grievances and exploded protesting after the new democratic government had taken over, he said.

They have realised that their fate was not going to change, the personnel added.

The BDR personnel trashed any allegation of killing or misbehaving with any of their army commanders.

He thought things might be easier if the prime minister went to talk to them and the army troopers called back.
Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com)— A long day’s drama was ending early Thursday morning as BDR mutineers began giving up their guns and hostages after a bold move by Bangladesh’s first woman home minister to drive straight into the rebels’ den.

“I have assured them no army units will enter (the BDR headquarters),” Sahara Khatun told reporters including bdnews24.com senior correspondents Sumon Mahbub and Liton Haider at 4:20am after she came out of the compound.

The minister did not say anything about the rumours and reports on the casualty figures. Her companion, state minister for law Quamrul Islam, refused to speculate on the number of the dead.

“I have neither seen any dead nor any injured,” the state minister told Sumon Mahbub at 4:50am when asked about the dead.

The home minister freed at least 15 families out of captivity, who were herded into four vehicles including the one carrying her.

Sahara Khatun watched as the BDR mutineers began handing in their guns. The minister with no security also led officers’ families out of their homes in the residential blocks in the sprawling complex in downtown Dhaka.

“I told them I am like your mother. You can trust me,” the minister quoted herself as saying to hundreds of rebels she met in a field outside the Darbar Hall where she heard their grievances.

“I was taken to the armoury. They began laying down their arms before me,” she said. “They were continuing as I left.”

“I told them: ‘I am your minister. I promise you … you listen to me so that I can go and tell the prime minister that these boys have obliged you.’

“They were insisting on not allowing the army to get inside. They were saying the army must not come. I told them, I assure you they won’t.”

The minister, accompanied by the state minister for law and police chief Noor Mohammad, had gone inside, driven in a privately-owned bullet-proof SUV of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. A fourth person, described by correspondents as an aide to Sahara Khatun, was also in the vehicle.

On her return, two families were in the minister’s car. A family of four—an elderly couple, an adult man and a child—were bundled into the back of the SUV while a woman and a 6-year-old boy with his back-pack school bag were seated next to the minister.

They bodies were laid out for identification at Nawabganj Park.

“They were found this morning, dumped in the same area as two dead officers the day before,” said Khan.

The bodies of two senior officers were found dumped in a drain behind the BDR compound, Kamrangirchar police said Wednesday.

Col Mujibul Huq, who commanded the Dhaka Sector and headed the emergency government’s Operation Daal-Bhat, was killed at the early stage of the mutiny.

The body of Lt Col Enayet, commander of 36 Battalion, was found alongside Huq’s.

Dhaka Feb 26 (bdnews24.com)—Mobile operators were restricting calls from the capital to other parts of the country and to BDR’s Peelkhana Headquarters in Dhaka, from midday Thursday, said officials.

Grameenphone said according to a government directive mobile services would be shut off nationwide, except for some areas of the capital.

A Warid official told bdnews24.com that instructions had also come from the home ministry to shutdown all network communication with BDR’s Pilkhana Headquarters in the capital.

Banglalink and Citycell officals said they were also limiting their networks to Dhaka.

After holding talks with mutinous BDR jawans, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury this (Thursday) morning told reporters that they have agreed to surrender their arms by 2:00pm today if army officials are withdrawn from all the BDR posts across the country.

She also urged the BDR soldiers at different camps across the country to stay calm.

The rebel BDR jawans told a government delegation led by Matia that they are ready to surrender their arms by 2:00pm today if army officials are withdrawn from all the BDR posts across the country, UNB adds.

The government delegation arrived at the BDR gate no-4 at Pilkhana at about 8:35am today for further negotiations with the mutineers.

Later, they sat with a 10-member delegation of rebel BDR jawans at Ambala Inn and completed the meeting successfully at about 11:30am.

The government delegation also included State Minister for Law Qamrul Islam, State Minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Barrister Fazle Noor Taposh MP and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Mohammad.

Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com) – Reports of mutiny spreading within BDR battalions were coming in from across the country Thursday morning, before mobile operators began restricting network services.

bdnews24.com correspondents reported BDR Jawans had taken control of Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Feni and Naogaon battalions by midday.

They also reported chaos at Chittagong, Khulna, Satkhira, Jaipurhat, Thakurgaon and Bandarban battalions throughout the morning

Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com)—Six more hostages, a women and five children, were released from the BDR Headquarters minutes after the prime minister’s nationwide broadcast ended Thursday.

bdnews24.com correspondents reported that BDR rebels at the Dhanmondi entrance of the BDR complex released the six at 2.41pm, where police and relatives received them.

The situation around the BDR Headquarters was calm after heavy arms fire had erupted earlier at Zigatola, Dhanmondi and Hazaribagh.

Residents and bystanders reported bursts of machinegun fire around 1pm.

Dhaka Feb 26 (bdnews24.com)— BDR mutineers have begun handing in their guns again after the prime minister’s nationwide broadcast, the home minister said.

Sahara Khatun told reporters Thursday afternoon that a BDR jawan had called her to say they were laying down their arms after hearing prime minister Sheikh Hasina speak at 2:30pm.

The minister did not answer directly when asked whether the army deployed around the BDR headquarters would be withdrawn as demanded by the rebels. She replied, curtly: “Everything will be allright.”

The home minister herself watched early Thursday morning when many rebels handed in their arms.

Asked if an all-party meeting to discuss such a national crisis was likely, “Why not. There is no reason for anyone not to support it.”

She, however, added: “It’s up to the prime minister to decide.”
Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com)—Tanks and other military vehicles were seen moving out of Road 12A onto Satmasjid Road towards the main entrance of the Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters from 5.30pm, while thousands of spectators crowded the streets.

The armoured vehicles and army trucks had earlier taken position at Abahani Sports field in the capital’s Dhanmondi residential area.

At least eight armoured vehicles were seen moving up Road 27, around 4pm, closing in on the Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters in the heart of the city where hundreds of armed rebels were holding on.

The tanks took position in and around the field at Road 12A in Dhanmondi, where convoys of army soldiers were also deploying a temporary camp, less than a kilometre from the main gate of the BDR Headquarters.

Army troops had been asking people by loudspeaker to move out of the areas around the sprawling BDR complex from early afternoon.

bdnews24.com correspondents said six officers were among the hostages released from the compound’s main Zigatola gate at about 4.20pm, escorted by RAB and police.

Major Zahid Zaman, one of the released officers, said he had counted over 100 casualties since the armed rebellion by border guards began Wednesday morning.

“I have not seen (BDR chief) Major General Shakil Ahmed since yesterday morning,” he told reporters outside the compound.

bdnews24.com correspondents reported five other released officers: Major Riaz, Major Ishtiaq, Major Zahidi, Major Zaman, Lt Col Syed Kamruzzaman.

Another six hostages, a women and five children, were released from the complex minutes after the prime minister’s nationwide broadcast ended earlier in the afternoon.

bdnews24.com correspondents reported that BDR rebels at the main entrance of the complex released the six at 2.41pm, where police and relatives received them.
Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com) — Police officers have entered the BDR compound and taken control of the main entrance, apparently ending a 33-hour mutiny.

Home minister Sahara Khatun, who entered the compound at around 4:45pm for a second time to negotiate a full surrender with BDR rebels, state minister for local government Jahangir kabir Nanak and the police commissioner were still inside the headquarters.

Armed Police Battalion has taken control of the armory at the BDR headquarters, the prime minister’s deputy press secretary Nakib Uddin Ahmed told reporters at 7pm.

bdnews24.com correspondents at the BDR main gate say they saw two police trucks and a pick-up van enter the compound, known as Peelkhana, at 6:33pm.

Police brought out a dejected-looking BDR officer major Quamruzzaman after a while.

Earlier, a top aide to the prime minister said all the rebellious BDR personnel surrendered and that the situation was under control.

“The situation is under complete control of the government,” the prime minister’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told reporters.

“BDR members have completed arms surrender.”

Tanks and other military vehicles moved further up Satmasjid Road towards the main entrance to the BDR headquarters at 5:30pm as the standoff over rebel paramilitary troops lingered on to the second day.

bdnews24.com correspondents said the armoured vehicles, which moved up from Dhanmondi Road 12A onto Satmasjid Road to the intersection of Road 15A, were each carrying five army personnel in black uniform.

Tanks and army trucks had earlier taken position at Abahani sports field at Road 12A in the capital’s Dhanmondi residential area.

The tanks took position in and around the sports field, where convoys of army soldiers were also setting up a temporary camp, less than a kilometre from the main gate of the BDR Headquarters.

At least eight armoured vehicles were seen moving up Road 27, around 4pm, closing in on the Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters in the heart of the city where hundreds of armed rebels were holding on.

Army troops had been asking people by loudspeaker to move out of the areas around the sprawling BDR complex from early afternoon.

Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com) – The Rapid Action Battalion picked up 16 BDR men dressed in plain clothes Thursday, as they tried to escape over the wall from their Peelkhana compound, the site of a mutiny by armed rebel border guards.

The RAB took them to a makeshift army camp at Abahani Sportsground.

Of the arrestees, ten were arrested around 4:30pm, another six an hour later, assistant commanding officer in RAB-10, Kamal Hossain, told reporters.

Hossain said they were guarding the headquarters to watch if anyone was escaping before a possible drive into the BDR headquarters.

One of the arrestees, not wishing to be named, told reporters he was not involved with the mutiny.

“I and other BDR personnel not involved in the mutiny were confined in a house on the BDR compound,” he said.

“We were able to escape as rebel BDR personnel left the house unguarded after noon,” he said.

Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com) — Police have taken control of the BDR headquarters and the mutinous border guards retreated to barracks, the home minister said Thursday night, drawing the curtain on a 33-hour rebellion.

“The BDR members have gone back to barracks after surrendering arms,” Sahara Khatun told reporters as she left the scene at 8pm.

“All jawans have handed the keys of the two armouries to me after laying down their arms.”

Sahara Khatun had entered the compound at around 4:45pm for a second time to negotiate a full surrender with BDR rebels.

The prime minister’s deputy press secretary Nakib Uddin Ahmed told reporters at 7pm Armed Police Battalion had taken control of the armory at the BDR headquarters.

bdnews24.com correspondents at the BDR main gate say they saw two police trucks and a pick-up van enter the compound, known as Peelkhana, at 6:33pm.

Police brought out a dejected-looking BDR officer major Quamruzzaman after a while.

Nearly 150 people, including women and children and some 20 BDR officers, have been freed from the headquarters until Thursday evening, police and RAB said.

Earlier, a top aide to the prime minister said all the rebellious BDR personnel surrendered and that the situation was under control.

“The situation is under complete control of the government,” the prime minister’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told reporters.

“BDR members have completed arms surrender.”
Tanks and other military vehicles moved further up Satmasjid Road towards the main entrance to the BDR headquarters at 5:30pm as the standoff over rebel paramilitary troops lingered on to the second day.

bdnews24.com correspondents said the armoured vehicles, which moved up from Dhanmondi Road 12A onto Satmasjid Road to the intersection of Road 15A, were each carrying five army personnel in black uniform.

Tanks and army trucks had earlier taken position at Abahani sports field at Road 12A in the capital’s Dhanmondi residential area.

The tanks took position in and around the sports field, where convoys of army soldiers were also setting up a temporary camp, less than a kilometre from the main gate of the BDR Headquarters.

At least eight armoured vehicles were seen moving up Road 27, around 4pm, closing in on the Bangladesh Rifles Headquarters in the heart of the city where hundreds of armed rebels were holding on.

Army troops had been asking people by loudspeaker to move out of the areas around the sprawling BDR complex from early afternoon.

Dhaka, Feb 26 (bdnews24.com) – A carrot-and-stick speech by the prime minister twinned with the negotiating skills of her political team brought to an end Thursday a bloody mutiny that killed many senior military officers.

Police took control of the BDR headquarters and the mutinous border guards retreated to barracks, the home minister, Sahara Khatun, said Thursday night, drawing the curtains on a 33-hour rebellion.

“The BDR members have gone back to barracks after surrendering arms,” the minister told reporters as she left the scene at 8pm.

“All personnel have handed the keys of the two armouries to me after laying down their arms.”

No one, not even the freed hostages, could put exact figure on casualties.

Major Zaman, one of the officers held hostage and freed on Thursday, said he would speculate over 100 officers died inside the BDR compound since the mutiny began at 9:30am during the Darbar with director general Shakil Ahmed, an army major general.

There was no word about the general’s whereabouts. No one was saying he was alive either.

Police released names of eight army officers whose bodies were found in a drainage ditch in Kamrangirchar Wednesday and early Thursday.

Feb 28th, Major General Shakil AHmed’s mutilated and decomposed body was found in a mass graveyard, 38 others was found in there. His wife Nazneen Shakil’s body was found in another mass graveyard. Total mass grave yards found inside pilkhana is now 3. Only 22 surviving officers among the 168, who attended Darbar Hall on 25th February and 70 dead bodies have been found. Scores of officers are still missing, i cannot do anything but feel my heart breaking thinking that now they are probably dead as well.